Shifting Gears
by Kestrel1
Summary: Mystique mayhem in the mall...


Kurt woke up, but he didn't open his eyes. The motion of the car, the warm sun, the wind in his face, the soothing music on the radio were all so perfect. His neck was cramped, but he was too at peace to move. In no time at all he was back asleep. The next time he woke up was because someone called his name. His neck was really stiff by now, and his left hand and right foot were asleep. "We're here," Scott said.  
The mall. The Mecca of fun. "YES! Shopping!" Kitty exclaimed. The mall. Hell on earth for one Kurt Wagner. "Hey, you volunteered," Scott reminded his friend before driving away. "Man, this is gonna be awesome," Evan said. "Ah can't believe ah let you talk me into this," Rogue protested.  
Kurt had done something to make Kitty mad at him, and to make amends he asked her if she wanted to go to the mall. But of course she would never say yes if it was just the two of them, so with some persuasion Evan and Rogue were brought in on it. Their first stop: Only Kitty knew, as she dragged them all into her shopping spree death trap.  
Just a half hour later, Evan and Kurt were already saddled with bags and Rogue was ready to shoot herself. "Hey, can't we do something WE want?" Evan piped up. Kitty spun around and glared at him, but then smiled sweetly and said, "Sure." Cut to the CD store, where the teens went on a free-for-all.  
"How can you like, listen to that stuff?" Kitty asked Rogue. Now it was her turn to glare. "I'd take Janet Jackson over...Marilyn Manson any day," Kitty continued, not knowing when to stop. "And what kind of a name for a band is--"  
"GET OUTTA MAH FACE! AH DON'T JUDGE YOU, DO AH?!" Rogue exploded, drawing the attention of everyone in the store. "Ladies, ladies," Kurt said, stepping in between them, "Can't ve all just get along?" Rogue and Kitty walked off in opposite directions. Kurt went after Kitty. Evan, meanwhile, was obliviously checking out his own favorite bands.  
Some time later, Kitty found Kurt near a pretzel stand. "I don't believe her!" She said, pulling him by the sleeve. She needed someone to talk to, and she had more shopping to do. "Just take it easy," Kurt said, stopping abruptly. "No matter vhat, I'm on your side." She looked into his eyes and felt a little weird. "Thanks, Kurt..." Then he kissed her.  
"Wow," Kitty said, finally pulling back. "Kurt, uh...I gotta go..." With that, she quickly walked away. Kurt turned the corner past the pretzel stand, checked to see that nobody was around, and...changed into Evan.  
Presently, the real Kurt met up with Kitty. "Hey," he said, "Look, I'm sorry about vhatever I did to make you mad in the first place, but--" Kitty stopped him in mid-apology. Not that he knew what he was apologizing for. "Just, no..." she said before walking away from him. Kurt stood there dumbfounded until, "Ooh! A pretzel stand!"  
Back in the CD store, Evan was still browsing. "Yo Kurt," he said, "You should check these Rammstein guys out...Kurt? Kitty? Hello?" Not too far away, "Evan" ran into Rogue.  
"You really made yourself look stupid back there," he chuckled.  
"Ah suppose you're on Kitty's cheerin' squad, too?"  
"I dunno what you're talking about. She's not that popular, its just that you're a total loser."  
Rogue looked him right in the eye. And she was hurt. These were the people that were supposed to accept her. And this, over something as unimportant as music...or maybe this is how they felt all along. She suddenly felt a little sick and walked away quickly without a word. Evan went to the bathroom and came out as Scott Summers. He laughed, thinking how little effort it took to make Rogue insecure again.  
He found Kurt finishing off his pretzel, sitting on a bench. "Scott," he said with his mouth full. "Vhat are you doing here?" He stood up to greet his friend, but Scott pushed him back down, making him drop the remainder of his delicious pretzel. "Hey!"  
"You little clown," Scott said, "You know why I'm here. If you screwed this up any more, Kitty would jump out a window or something." Kurt was confused more than ever now. "I don't even know vhat I did!" He shouted. "Figures. You're pathetic, Kurt, you know that?" Kurt felt a little sting in his eyes. He couldn't look his friend in the face. "Oh, and one more thing," Scott said, leaning in close to Kurt and whispering in his ear, "You're an ugly freak, too."  
Scott turned and walked away, leaving Kurt crushed. But suddenly, he stood up, BAMFed in front of Scott, and grabbed the glasses off his face. No optic bursts. "Who are you!?" He demanded. "Scott vould NEVER call me that!" With that, Scott pushed Kurt out of the way and made a run for it.  
Now that she was discovered, Mystique had to hope that whatever wedges she already drove between the X-Men were good enough. And she had to make an escape. She ducked into a store with a lot of people in it - the CD store. Starting to transform as she ran, she slammed smack into Evan, knocking them both down.  
"Oh, sorry ma'am," he said, helping the elderly woman to her feet. "It's Mystique!" A voice shouted from somewhere in the store. The old lady tried to pass by Evan, but he guessed that no old lady could run fast enough to knock him over. "Hold on," he said, grabbing her by the wrist. She kicked him in the head.  
But by now Kurt was there, and the old lady ran into him, too. He BAMFed them both on top of the spinning sign above the CD store. This drew the attention of everyone around, including Rogue and Kitty. "Change back," Kurt said, holding Mystique by the hand over the edge of the sign.  
She changed into her true blue form, and everyone gasped except Kitty and Rogue. They immediately understood what had happened. Kurt BAMFed them both down to the ground, and then disappeared into the gathering crowd around Mystique.  
The four friends met up later and sorted out the whole thing. "I shoulda known it wasn't you, elf," Kitty said. "Vhat did I do?" She smiled. "Nothing." It didn't even occur to the poor girl that Mystique had kissed her. "And I'm sorry about anything I said when it wasn't really me," Evan said to everyone. Rogue couldn't help but smile.  
"But about that Marilyn Manson stuff--"  
"DON'T EVEN." Smiles sure didn't last long around here. 


End file.
